1809 James Madison Indian Peace Medal. Bronze. Third Size. First Reverse. Julian IP-7, Prucha-40. MS-62 BN (NGC). 51.0 mm. 1037.4 grains. Beautifully bronzed deep mahogany-brown with somewhat lighter chestnut brown on the high points. Satiny and gently lustrous with mild contrast between the fields and devices. Very few marks are noted, but nearly all are quite superficial and really not distracting. This is a very attractive example of a rare medal. Struck from the original dies used to produce the silver specimens, but in a later state. There is light spalling on the reverse, most noticeable in the field beneath PEACE. However, as noted previously, there are two distinct states of this die marked by the presence of either one or two chips at the rim just below 3 oclock. This has only one chip, and is thus the earlier state. We have sold very few examples of this medal in bronze over the last decade. It is quite rare and probably underappreciated, particularly when considering that a silver example is far out of reach for most collectors, in availability, even if not for the expense. It is also a handsome piece and a fairly early collector strike from the U.S. Mint, probably from the 1850s. From the Ronald A. Slovick Family Collection. Purchased from Presidential Coin and Antique, August 1982. <p>
